The Girl From the Woods
by peetabreadandhummus
Summary: Gale and Katniss! They meet in the woods and become closer and closer as they bond everyday while they hunt! Plleaseee read/review!
1. Chapter 1

I come back to my snare lines to find 2 squirrels. Definitely not enough for our family. Me, my mom, my little brothers Rory and Vick, and my mom's new born baby girl, Posy. Ever since my dad died in a mining incident a few months ago I have become leader of our family, and try to put something on the table every night.  
>I bend down to get the squirrel from the snare and here a thump a few yards in front of me. I immediately put on my guard. In front of me stands a girl, my age, dark brown hair braided down her back, a bow slung over her shoulder, and her game bag on her back full with food. I'm surprised to see someone in the woods because here in District 12, going under the fence and into the woods is illegal. I know this girl though she was at the same memorial I was at when my father died, I remember her and her little sister getting the medal for her father.<br>"Hey," I say awkwardly. And next thing I know shes running out of the woods and under the fence. I wonder what I said wrong, maybe she didn't want me to know she was defying the laws. I decided I have better things to worry about. I go to my other snare line and there is an okay haul 1 more plump squirrel and 2 rabbits. I decide this is enough and make my way back through the woods and under the fence.

On my way to the Hob, the black trading market in my town, I find some fruit and nuts, good for trading. I myself am starving so once I get to the Hob I do my trading and go to Greasy Sae's, an old woman in my town who sells soup at the Hob, and give her some nuts and berries in exchange for a bowl of soup. I look to my left and I see the girl from the woods. I am shocked to see her here, she looks at me and her eyes widen, with what I know is shock, and turns around quickly. She jokes around with the peacekeeper Darius, and acts like I'm not ever there. She slurps up the rest of her soup, gets her trading done, and leaves the Hob with a bag full of things from the Hob and still a whole other bag full with squirrels, rabbits, and other animals I don't even recognize. How did she hunt that much game to trade and still have enough to hold my family over for 2 days, and hers a week?

I finish my soup and head home, thinking about the girl from the woods. Once I arrive home my baby sister Posy is crying and my brother Vick is sick. I take the baby from my mom and give her the food so she can start on dinner. I suggest I take the Vick to the pharmacists, Mrs. Everdeen's, house. We've never been there but the whole town has, she heals probably every sickness in the all of the Seam. My mother agrees and I take some coins and a rabbit with me.

I arrive at the run down, small house, knock on the door and Mrs. Everdeen, the pharmacist, opens the door and sees Vick and lets us in. She tells me to have a seat and asks Vick what's wrong in calming tones.

"Prim!" she calls into the other room. In walks a young blonde girl she is probably 10 years old. I have seen her before and try to remember where from. It all comes together in my mind as the girl from the woods walks in. I saw this little girl at her fathers memorial service, the girl from the woods and the little girl, Prim, are sisters.

"Katniss can you get me the wooden box from the cupboard?" Mrs. Everdeen asks. The girl from the woods walks past me brushing my shoulder and gives her mom the wooden box which seems to be filled with all different types of herbs for healing remedies.

So the girl from the woods' name is Katniss she walks back around the table and realizes that I'm staring at her, we make eye contact for a few seconds, her mouth twitches ever so slightly, and she walks back into her room.

After a few minutes Mrs. Everdeen has a remedy whipped up and into Vick. I say thank you and give her the rabbit and the coins, and leave.

That night as I fall asleep all I can think about is the mysterious girl from the woods and wonder when I will see her next.

**I know some of the facts aren't 100% true from the books, but I'm just recreating them (: Hope you enjoy! Ask me anything! **


	2. Chapter 2

Once the boy left, I lay in bed for a while thinking. It must be at least midnight by now, but I can't find sleep. I think about the boy from the woods, hopefully I will see him again in the morning. I finally find sleep and let my dreams take over my mind.

I am awakened by the slightest shift in position by my sister, Prim, as she sleeps. It must me morning by now and I figure there is no reason to fall back asleep so I begin to think. Maybe the boy does not remember me, but I remember him. He received a medal for his father's contributions to District 12, the same day I had. Once my father died my mother totally lost it. It was as if she didn't remember who she was. I soon took over the responsible roll of keeping my family from starvation. Ever since then I have been going past the Perimeter of District 12 and into the woods, an act that was highly forbidden. My father taught me how to hunt with a bow and arrow. Every morning we would enter the woods and hunt for food to keep our family alive. Some days he would bring me to a lake and teach me how to swim. I am completely broken from me reverie by a ray of sun that entered through the curtains covering my window.

I roll from the bed as silently as possible careful not to wake my sister, and begin my morning routines. I get dressed into my hunting clothes, braid my hair down my back, and grab my game bag, and walk into the brisk morning air. I make my way through the meadow that surrounds my house and down towards the fence. I can tell the boy has not been there yet because there are no fresh footprints in the mud. I slide under the fence and make my way to the hollow log in which I hide my bow and arrows. As I am slinging my quiver over my shoulder I hear leaves crunching behind me. Instinctively I pull an arrow out of my quiver and place it on my bow, and quickly turn around aiming my bow toward the noise, thinking of the worst. Out of the thick of the trees walks the boy. He innocently puts his hands up and I lower my bow.

"Sorry," I say

"No problem," he replies. We stand there for a few moments sizing each other down. He's tall, has dark brown hair, and green eyes. I can tell he is strong by the way his arms look at where his shirt is cut off. He wears a dark green shirt, and brown pants. Worst of all he is unmistakably handsome.

Trying to break the silence I ask, "How is your brother, Vick?"

"Oh he's good, thanks to your mom," he said.

"What's your name?" I ask

"Gale Hawthorne, and your Katniss?" He replies.

"Yes, Katniss Everdeen. Have you always hunted in the woods?" I curiously ask.

"No, ever since my dad died I have been though. How about you?"

"I used to hunt with my dad every day."

"Any good with that?" he says and nods toward the bow in my hands.

"I guess you could say that." I reply laughing to myself. Am I good with it? I'm great with it, I doubt he can even hunt. "What do you use?"

He takes his bag off of his shoulder and takes out some spare rope and wires. "Snares"

"Hmmmm, I've only ever used a bow. How do you use them?"

He begins to talk about the concise way to use snares, I only listen to about half of what he has to say, the other half I spent studying him. He seems kind of shy, but he knows what he's talking about, he holds himself in a way that makes me know I can trust him, I don't know why though.

"Then you just place it on the ground and-"he stops in the middle of his speech and notices I am staring at him.

"Uh sorry," I say lamely.

"Well obviously your bored by the art of the snare," he says and smiles, "so how do you use a bow?"

I laugh and say "You want to learn?"

He nods so we agree to go deeper into the woods and hunt together. As we go along we teach each other how to use the bow and snares. Once its late afternoon we have a huge haul. 7 big rabbits, 3 squirrels, and a few birds. We then decide to go to the Hob and spend our way telling the other about our lives. I learn that his dad died in the same mining accident that my did, he has 2 little brothers, Rory and Vick, and his mom just gave birth to his little sister, Posy. He hunts every morning, just like me. I tell him all about me, about Prim and my mom. About the mining accident. I don't tell him everything though, about how my family almost starved, about how I am totally against the capitol which no one knows about me. I would need to get to know him better

Once we arrive at the Hob we divide up the game in an equal way, and do our trading. We both end up with bigger hauls than normal. We walk back to the village and talk about meeting up the next morning again.

"Okay I'll see you tomorrow morning, at the tree." I say and go to give him a handshake, but he held up his hand for a high five. We awkwardly shake hands/high five and can feel my face getting red. As he turns around I run off wondering if I could have done anything more dim-witted. I walk in the direction of my house shaking my head as I go.

**Hey guys thank you for the reviews! They made me so excited so I decided to update quick! I was done it last night but my computer lost the document. Well please keep reviewing and letting me know your thoughts! Thank you again! **


	3. Chapter 3

As I walk home I think of how lame I acted. High-five? Really? I think of Katniss, her long brown hair braided down her back, her quiver slung over her shoulder, her smile, and how everyone at the Hob loves her presence.

Once I reach my house I say hi to my mom, my brothers, and my sister. Giving my mother the food I sit down at the table and begin fiddling with the whole in the tablecloth. I feel my mother's eyes on me and look up.

"What are you so happy about," says my mom with a slight smile.

"What do you mean?"

"You've been smiling ever since you walked in the door."

I realize I have been, I laugh, and say, "I met this girl today in the woods, Katniss."

My mother's eyebrows shoot up, "In the woods?"

"Yeah, it's fine, she always gone in there"

"Okay just be careful," she says, and begins to prepare dinner.

The rest of the night is usual. I held Posy for a bit, and played with Rory and Vick. Once dinner was done we sat down together and ate. I lie down and fall asleep quickly.

I am so excited for the morning that I wake up 2 hours earlier than usual. I decide in order to waste time I will busy myself with household chores, and lie down for a while longer.

Once the time comes I get dressed, grab my bag, and set out for the woods. I slide under the fence and sit down to wait for Katniss because I'm sure she isn't here yet because of how early it is. After about 5 minutes of waiting, out of the corner of my eye I see something fly from the tree above me. I put my hands over my head protectively and turn around. I see a rabbit with an arrow in its eye, I look at the tree above me and the next thing I know Katniss is jumping from the tree and landing right in front of me.

"Hey," Katniss says and smiles as she goes to retrieve the rabbit.

"Um, hey, how long have you been here?" I ask curiously.

"Oh, about 30 minutes," she says as she's putting the rabbit in her game bag. I notice there is already another rabbit and a squirrel in the bag.

"How'd you learn how to climb like that?" I ask

"I don't really know, I just do it, let's get started," she replies.

We begin to hunt and its going great. We have gotten a great haul so far, enough for good trades, and a big dinner. And were having fun too, I'm really starting to like hanging out with Katniss. She's funny, sarcastic, but knows when to be serious; she is a great hunter, and a great friend. She is also the prettiest girl in District 12, and I'm not the only person who thinks this. I always hear her name around town, everyone thinks she's beautiful and she doesn't even know it.

"Gale!" Katniss shrieked from beside me. It all happened so fast. I quickly turn around and see Katniss falling, immediately my arms stretch out and I am holding her in my arms. Her arms laying on my chest and my arms around her waist. For a few moments we just stay there staring into each others eyes, and then a bird calls from above. She quickly puts her arms down and I quickly put my hands in my pockets.

We stand there awkwardly for a few moments and then to break the silence I say, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I-I'm fine. Um, let's keep going?"

"Yeah."

For a few hours while we are hunting the mood is supremely awkward. Until I slip in the mud and we both start cracking up. She holds down her hand to help me up and I accept. We hunt for another hour and then make our way back to the Hob. On the way we pick raspberries and Katniss tells me the mayor is very fond of these and pays good for them. So before we go to the Hob we decide to make our way to the mayor's house. And this is where we meet Madge and Neena.

"Katniss!" Madge, the mayors daughter screams and gives Katniss a hug. She doesn't look like most of the people from the Seam. She has long blonde hair, and has not a speck of dirt on her. I guess being the mayors daughter there is no worry of not showering with hot water ever day. She has on normal clothes though; a pink shirt, and black pants. She and Katniss seem to be good friends.

"Oh! This is my friend, Neena!" From behind Madge walks a tan-skinned girl, dark hair, in a ponytail, short, and prominent dark eyebrows.

"Hey! I'm Neena!" Katniss and I introduce ourselves and Madge asks if we need anything.

"Oh, no we were just here to give your dad some raspberries," Katniss says.

"Okay I'll get him," says Madge and she runs off to find her father in their huge house.

The mayor came downstairs and said hello, we talked for a while and he gave us 5 coins each for the raspberries. We say thank you and make our way to the Hob.

We trade some of our goods and then split everything up evenly. Then with the extra coins from the mayor we each buy a bowl of soup from Greasy Sae. Once we arrive, together, Greasy Sae's eyebrows shoot up!

"Ohhhh, what do we have here? Katniss and Gale?" she says in a joking way and then laughs.

"Oh, no were just friends," Katniss and I awkwardly say at the same time.

"Right, sure you are." Greasy Sae says and winks at me.

We enjoy our soup together talking to various people from the Hob, and make our way back toward the village.

"I had fun today, see you tomorrow right?" I ask.

"Me too," Katniss says and smiles, "Yup bright and early!"

"Alright see you then," I reply. Katniss holds her arms out and realize after a few seconds of confusion she's looking for a hug I laugh and give her a hug, with no awkwardness like yesterday with the -five.

"Bye!" She says and turns toward her house.

As I walk away I think about how I am already excited for tomorrow.

** Hey guys! Well I know I introduced the new character, Neena, and I wanted to let you guys know that in order for my story line to get across I'm going to introduce like 7/8 new characters. I hope no one minds but in for the plot I need more characters. Well again thank you SSSSOOOOOOO MUCH for reviewing! It really makes my day and makes me want to upload quickly haha! Well please keep reviewing/asking thanks again! (:**


	4. Chapter 4

It's been 2 weeks so far since Gale and I met. We have been going hunting everyday together. Yesterday, Monday, I told Gale to arrive at the fence earlier than usual the next day.

I hear his footsteps and hop down from my tree. He notices how full my game bag is and asks how long I have been here, and why I started without him.

"Not that long, and because I want to show you something today," I reply with a hint of a smile at his unknowingness. "Just follow me." We begin the long walk to the special place that I'm taking Gale today. During the walk Gale sets up some of his snares and keeps asking where we are going. I tell him to wait a bit longer each time. The rest of the walk I think about how over the past few weeks with Gale have been some of the most fun of my whole life. Gale, his dark brown hair, all untidy once he wakes up, his overly large hands, and how delicate they looked when he was setting up snares, but then once I felt his hands catch me I could really tell how fragile of a person he was, and how loving.

We finally reach the spot and I tell Gale to close his eyes. I say open and I smile while he takes in what we are looking at: a little stone house sitting right next to a huge lake.

"Do you know how to swim?" I ask. Figuring he doesn't because no one in District 12, well besides me and my father have ever seen such a sight.

"Not at all, but let's go!" Gale replies and begins taking off his shirt. As soon as he is ready to go in and looks down at me he realizes I am staring at the complex muscles of his stomach, and arms. Not too big, but just right. To break the awkwardness I push him in take off some of my own clothes and jump in with him. We spend a few hours learning how to swim and fooling around in the shallow end. After a while I decide to just float around a bit, watching the clouds above. I close my eyes and start to day dream and think. Right at the moment when I begin to think about Gale, someone splashes water in my face and jump on my back. I begin to laugh because I know its Gale. Then we do the most corny thing possible: a slashing fight. Once we finish our splashing I begin to teach Gale how to swim again. It's not going to well so we reside to floating, probably the most peaceful thing I've done ever since my dad died.

"You know, I love this, being here with you at this awesome lake. I'm glad we met Katniss," says Gale I don't respond because I am too preoccupied with the smoke that is coming out of the chimney of the deserted stone house next to the lake.

I scream and point. Gale is so taken off guard he falls under the water. We get out of the lake get our bows and slowly approach the house. I kick the door open and both I and Gale are surprised at what we see. A boy, probably our age sitting at the fire roasting what seems to be a squirrel. He is the strangest looking person I have ever seen.

He has snowy white hair, white eyes, and almost translucent skin. He looks over and is terrified at the sight of us. He stands up and puts his hands over his head. He is average height and is muscular.

"Wait! Were not going to hurt you!" I scream.

He puts his hands down and nods.

"What's your name?" I ask curiously.

"Wik."

**This chapter is terribly short. I am so sorry! I was going to make it longer but I know I haven't updated in a few days. With school and clubs and sports I never have time anymore. Even though I sneak out my notebook during class to write a sentence or 2. PLEASSEEE read/review! I want to know your thoughts! Thanks again to all of my reviewers! **


	5. Chapter 5

"Who are you and why are you here?" Katniss asks cruelly.

"I'm an escapee from District 10." Wik responds, not telling us anything else because he doesn't know if he can trust us.

"Why did you escape? And this time the whole story," I say back, wanting to know more.

"My whole family died in what the capitol told me was a fire. I know it's not true and I needed to get away before they did anything to me too. So I got everything that my family owned and started walking I left about 2 months ago and then I saw this place, it's perfect. I've been here for about 2 weeks, good enough?" Wik responds with a slight edge to his voice. For trespassing on our land he's sure brave.

Katniss and I stand there for a short while not really sure what to say.

"Are you hungry?" Katniss asks, feeling bad about her earlier outburst.

"Starving, I've been living off tree bark," Wik responds.

Katniss takes out a squirrel and gives it to him. His face lights up and he thanks us profusely. Then begins to cook the squirrel.

After we talked for a while we realized that Wik was a really cool person. We laughed a lot, ate, talked about how much we hate the capitol, and then sat around the fire.

"So, are you guys married?" Wik asks casually.

"Married? Were 16! And no, no were not together. Were just friends." Katniss responds in a surprised voice.

"Oh, in District 10 most people are married by the time there 15."

"Well that's not how it is here," Katniss replies and looks down at the ground to try and hide the redness in her cheeks, she didn't do it so well.

"Katniss we should get going," I say to Katniss realizing that we've been here for too long.

"Okay," she responds. We gather up our, things give a squirrel to Wik, and tell him we'll be back in a few days.

Me and Katniss finished up our hunting and went to the Hob. We got an okay haul today, talking with Wik really set us back. As were walking out of the Hob I turn around to yell bye to Darius, turn around and realize I am about to walk into an old man I side step clumsily and fall over. Immediately pain shoots up my ankle, not as much as it has hurt in times before though.

"Come on Gale!" Katniss calls from ahead not knowing that I have fallen. She turns around and gasps/laughs. "What happened?" she asks but I can tell she's trying not to laugh.

"I'm fine, just need to ice it probably," I reply, embarrassed.

"No, just come to my house, my mom will check you out." She walks over to me puts my arm around her shoulder and we begin to walk.

When we arrive at Katniss' house there is already two people there; one sick, one not. They seem about our age maybe a year older. There is one boy and one girl who are identical in all ways besides that one is a boy and one is a girl. They are not like normal people from The Seam. They have blonde hair, very slim bodies, pale skin, and blue-ish eyes.

"Hi Katniss," says Mrs. Everdeen not turning around.

"Hey mom, um this is my friend, Gale, I think he hurt his ankle."

Mrs. Everdeen turns around, looks at me, and nods her head. "Hi Gale nice to meet you," she outstretches her hand and we shake hands.

"Hey, what's your name?" Katniss asks the non-ill twin.

"Hi I'm Blaise, and this is my sister, Petal, I think she has the flu." From the table waves a girl identical to the boy.

"Nice to meat you Blaise, why haven't I ever seen you around town?" Katniss asks.

"Oh me and Petal like to keep to ourselves really, were kind of home bodies."

"Oh, got it," Katniss says, not sure how to respond to that.

We talk to Petal and Blaise for a bit. Their personalities are alike too: they are both sort of shy, and are sort of strange, but at the same time really funny. They say they must get home and leave.

Katniss' mom looks at my ankle wraps it up and puts some ice on it.

"So, how did you two meet?" Mrs. Everdeen asks casually but I know she's digging for answers.

"Well we've been hunting together for the last few weeks. That's why I've had so much food recently," responds Katniss.

"Oh, in the woods?"

"Yeah it's fine though we met in there."

She asks some more questions which Katniss responds to with ease. I say I should get going and thank Mrs. Everdeen for the help on my ankle.

Katniss walks me out and we say bye.

"I'll see you tomorrow morning," she says.

"Alright see ya," I say and smile.

**Okayyy well a few more characters in this one. I know Petal and Blaise could never be from District 12 because of how they look but I just wanted to add characters like that. Chapter 6 should be up soon now that it's the weekend! Yay(: weellll please let me know your thoughts! Reviewreviewreview**


	6. Chapter 6

"So you and Gale are good friends, eh?" My mom asks immediately as Gale walks out of the onfront door. Oh no here comes the question answer period.

"I guess, we spend most of the day together every day. Why?" I respond.

"He likes you." My mom and I have never had one of these conversations before. I'm not really the boyfriend type. I have always had bigger problems to worry about.

"What? Mom, no," I reply trying to hide the blush on my face.

"You're blushing!" Screams Prim and I realize she's been sitting at the table this whole time.

"No I'm not blushing. Me and Gale are just hunting partners and nothing else," I reply, knowing that this is not the real truth. I've only known Gale for a few weeks but I feel like he knows more about me than anyone else does, even my mom and Prim. We are so alike, we both cannot stand the capitol, we both would rather be by ourselves or with each other than anyone else, and every day we both do something so illegal it would bring death just to save the people we love.

"Okay, whatever you say Katniss," my mom replies with a wink.

We eat dinner together, and Prim brings up Gale again.

"Well at least he's handsome," she says totally randomly.

"Yes, yes he is. Don't you think so Katniss?" My mom asks with a laugh.

I decide I will be honest this time. "Yes he is handsome, probably the most handsome in the entire Seam," this escapes my lips before I even think about it. I immediately regret it once I hear the ooooo-lala's from Prim, and laughs from my mother. Even I begin to laugh at the thought of me and Gale, together. Were just hunting partners right? He doesn't even think about me in that way.

We finish dinner with some more laughs, clean up, and go to bed.

As I am drifting asleep I think of Gale. Maybe he does think of me in that way.

Who am I kidding? Every girl in the Seam is in love with him. I always hear his name around town everyone thinks he's gorgeous, and he doesn't even know it. Everyone including me. I am close to sleep and my last thought is Gale doesn't think of me that way so I should erase it from my head. My eyelids fall and my mind is overtaken by dreams. Dreams of me and Gale together. The way he smiles, the way he delicately puts together snares, and the way the sun hints his dark brown hair and gives it a slight tint of bronze.

I wake up extra early in anticipation to see Gale. I automatically push these thoughts from my brain, knowing that I and he will never happen. Even if I want it to.

I walk outside of my door and standing next to my house is Gale.

"Thought we could walk together," he says with a smile.

"Yeah, sure."

We arrive at the woods go under the fence and begin to hunt. Our game bags fill up almost immediately. The animals are definitely not as shy as usual.

"Hey we have now what we usually have at the end of the day," I say, "maybe we should go see Wik."

"Yeah, let's go. Maybe we can go swimming again," Gale says and I laugh.

We begin the long walk down to the lake and I do the most clutzy thing ever. Even more clutzy then when I fell. I walk straight into a branch hanging off of a tree. Blood starts gushing from the cut right above my eyebrow. I gasp a little and Gale looks over.

"Wait, what happened?" he asks shocked.

"I kind of just walked into that dead branch hanging off the tree," I reply and point to it.

"Hear sit down," Gale says. He puts a hand on the small of my back and leads me to a fallen down tree. We both sit down facing each other. Gale takes out a piece of cloth from his bag and holds it up to my forehead ever so gently.

"You okay?" he asks.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks Gale, thanks for everything," and before I know it I'm blurting out everything I've wanted to say in the past week, "thanks for helping me hunt, thanks for keeping me company, for letting me tell you everything that I've had bottle up for the past 6 months, thanks for always being there for me, and thanks for just being, you."

"I'd do anything for you, you know that right?" He replies.

My face is probably bright red right now. I nod and throw my arms around his neck, and for the first time in a year actually being to cry.

I don't know why. I never cry. Never. It's just I've had everything bottled up and it's like I just exploded. Gale's hands go around me, and after a few moments one begins to stroke my hair.

I pull away and say, "Sorry I just needed to get that out and-"Gale puts his finger up my mouth.

"It's okay Katniss, I get it. Why don't we just make a fire right here and cook some food, then we can go see Wik."

"Okay, that sounds good," I reply wondering how even when he's taken aback Gale always knows what to do, how to calm me down, make me feel better.

We sit for a while, before we begin to cook the squirrel, just enjoying this. I begin to get sleepy and rest my head on Gale's shoulder.

"Katniss, Katniss," Gale gently shakes me awake. I open my eyes and take in my surroundings. I am laying on the ground with Gales bag under my head and his jacket wrapped around me for warmth. "Good morning," Gale says and laughs, "foods done," he holds up a cooked squirrel.

"Good thing, I'm starving," I say get up, stretch, realize fall is beginning to creep its way in and wrap the jacket more tightly around me, and look at where I was laying. The ground on which I was sleeping was covered with leaves. It must have taken a while to lay them all down. I was wondering why my back wasn't stiff. "You laid these all down? Wait how long was I out?"

"Yeah, didn't want you just lying on the ground. And not that long like an hour. You fell asleep on my shoulder and I decided to start cooking so laid down some leaves and put you on top. Squirrel?" he replies holding up a piece of delicious looking food.

I nod and we begin eat. It doesn't take us long to finish the food. We pack up and begin to make our way to the lake. "Oh here's your jacket," I begin to take off Gale's coat, embarrassed that I still have it on.

He puts his hand on my arm and says, "No, its fine, you can keep it."

"Thanks," I say enjoying the feel of his flannel around me even though it' not that cold outside.

We arrive at the lake and see smoke coming out of the chimney. We walk in the door and take Wik by surprise. He screams, realizes it's us, and says hi.

We talk for a while and Wik begins to tell us more about himself. I find out that he is really funny, and quite sarcastic, in District 10 he had a job and a wife but said she had died "in the same fire his parents had", and then he began to go off about how backwards the capitol is and how he knows this isn't true. We give our apologies to Wik and change the topic once we see his eyes start to water.

"So how long do you think you'll be here Wik?" I ask.

"Well I have nowhere else to go really. I was just going to go through the woods and find another district, but now that I've found this place I don't see the reason why not to delay my journey for a bit," he says and winks. "I mean there are so many animals in this forest!"

We laugh and agree. We say we should get going because of the delay earlier in the day. We say bye to each other and tell Wik we'll see him later.

Gale and I begin to walk back to the fence and get another huge haul.

The walk back to the Hob seems shorter today. Once we get there we see a new boy standing at Mr. Oliver's fish stand. Were surprised not to see him there and walk up to the young boy.

"Hi, I'm Katniss and this is Gale, where is Mr. Oliver?"

"Oh hello I am Pierce, and oh that is my uncle he was a bit under the weather today. So I agreed to take over his stand." The boy looks like a normal boy from the Seam: black hair, tan skinned, and silverfish eyes. The boy looks in the mirror and begins to fix his hair, after a few moments of watching him I can tell he is very conscious of his appearance.

"Oh nice to meat you and welcome to the Hob," I say and we walk away.

I go to Greasy Sae's for some soup because of the extra game we got today, and Gale begins our trading.

"Nice jacket Katniss," Sae says and I realize I am still wearing Gale's jacket.

"Wait! No it's not what it looks like," I try to defend my case.

"Save it honey. I've been alive way longer than you have, don't try and deny it. You like him."

"Okay well even if I do Sae, he doesn't feel the same way."

"Oh yes he does. I see the way he looks at you. Every time he makes a mistake and you laugh he gets embarrassed. I think that boy is way fonder of you than you think."

I don't reply. What am I supposed to say back to that?

Gale walks over and begins to eat his soup. We both finish say bye to Sae. As were leaving me and Gale are talking and he trips over the leg of a table in the Hob, I begin to laugh, and think of what Greasy Sae said. I look up at his face and he's redder then a tomato, he awkwardly chuckles and I can tell he's embarrassed. How haven't I caught this before? Greasy Sae was right. I immediately stop laughing and ask him if he's okay.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He replies. We leave the Hob and begin the walk to our houses. We say good bye and confirm tomorrow morning even though we both know it is unnecessary.

I walk into my house and Prim immediately begins to pester me about Gale.

"How was Gale today?" She says and winks.

"Prim!" I say and laugh.

We prepare dinner and go to bed: a normal night in my house.

Again as I fall asleep I think about Gale but tonight in a different way.

**Hey guys! Well I made this chapter exxtrraaa long to make up for chapter 5 haha… well you met a new character, Pierce, more of him to come! There's some more new characters until the good stuff comes, well not really good but I won't give too much away(; so yeah thanks for all of your reviews! There awesome! Plllessee keep reviewing and let me know your thoughts! **


	7. Chapter 7

I wake up and put on my hunting gear. It's weird to think that Katniss and I met 4 months ago today. The last few months have been some of the most fun of my life, it feels like I just met Katniss, but at the same time it feels like we've known each other our whole lives. Every day since we first met we have gone hunting together and gone to the Hob together.

In the past few months me and Katniss met Wik, Petal, Blaise, and Peirce, all of whom we see at least twice a week at the house. The house, well me and Kanitss found it while we were talking a walk one night. Its an abandoned shack on the outskirts of town, I don't think anyone ever went in it, besides us, in at least 50 years. We knew it was wrong to go in but we had to out of curiosity. It was the coolest thing the both of us had ever seen, really run down on the outside but once you got in it wasn't half bad. There was a nice fireplace for cooking and an old couch.

Well we walked in and we sat down and cooked some food. We saw Wik, Petal, Blaise, and Peirce a lot around town and figured out that they felt the same way about the capitol that we did. We began to hang out every other night at the house and we all instantly became friends, not as close as me and Katniss, but definitely friends.

Me and Katniss; I feel like I'm closer to her than anyone else I know. She knows everything about me, well except for one thing. I think she is the most gorgeous girl I have ever met and I've liked her ever since we've become hunting partners. I love her sarcasm and how funny she is, but at the same time I love when were hunting together totally silent, side by side. I love the way her arms feel around me when we hug. I love the way she talks to me like I'm actually important to her. I quickly remove these thoughts from my head, why dream about something that you know will never happen?

I'm broken from my thoughts by sun shining through the window and I realize I'm already late. I run out the door and to the woods to find Katniss sitting on a log waiting for me.

"Hey," she said with a smile.

"Hey, sorry I was late, got caught up doing some chores," I lie.

"Oh, don't worry about it, I got here only 15 minutes ago," she replies with a smile. We stood there for a moment just looking at each other. To break the awkward silence she says, "Ready to go?" I nod and we begin walking.

We go through our daily schedule, get enough game and head down to see Wik, something we've been doing every day we have extra time. We can't swim in the lake anymore; it's beginning to get cold here.

"So why are you being so quiet?" Katniss asks, and I realize shes been looking up at me this whole time.

"Oh, sorry I'm just kind of tired," I say, knowing that its not the truth. I wonder how she feels about me. I immediately stop thinking of us, together.

"Okay…." Katniss replies kind of confused.

I look down at her now and wonder what would happen if I told her. Would we stop being hunting partners? Or would she say she felt the same way….

As I am looking down at the one girl I have ever had feelings for and thinking about what would happen, she looks up. As soon as she sees the way I'm staring at her, she trips over the log we sit on every day.

"Katniss!" I scream reaching out to catch her. But it's too late she already fell and hit her head on a rock. I immediately start to get worried. I get on my knees and try and shake her awake; but I know it's no use. I need to get her back to her house now. I gently wrap my arms around her body and just take a few seconds to stare down at her. She even looks beautiful when she's asleep. I break out of my day dreaming and begin to run as fast as possible with out hurting her. In no time I'm back at the fence sliding Katniss and me under at the same time. I sprint to Katniss' house and knock on the door.

"Gale! What happened?" asks Mrs. Everdeen.

I quickly explain the story and bring Katniss inside. As soon as Mrs. Everdeen starts working on Katniss I realize I left our game in the woods. I tell Mrs. Everdeen that I will go get it and be right back.

I leave the house, hurrying to get to the woods and back, so I can see Katniss. As I'm flying through the fields I see a kid I've never seen before, he's tall, has brown hair, and is very muscular; he waves to me. I get so confused but just keep running. I quickly slide under the fence grab the game bags and head back to Katniss'.

While I am running through the fields I stop in my tracks, looking at the boy from before. I wonder where he came from. I deiced I have better things to worry about and begin making my way to my house to give my family the game bag and then right back to the Everdeen's house. I give Mrs. Everdeen the food and ask how Katniss is doing.

"She will be okay but she definitely will have a concussion when she wakes. Can you sit with her while I make dinner?"

"Yeah." I reply no doubt in my mind that I won't be here all night.

The night goes on, we all eat dinner in complete silence. Mrs. Everdeen and Prim sit on the couch and quickly fall asleep. Should I go home now? No, I decide I will clean up and sit with Katniss for a while.

After I'm done cleaning I sit down with Katniss and hold her hand. After at least an hour I begin to get tired, I lay my head down and quickly fall into sleep.

**I am so sorry! I haven't uploaded in so long! I have been so busy but I am getting back on track! This chapter is kind of weak. I wrote it in an hour, so sorry! The next one will definitely be better. Be ready for some Katniss+Gale haha33**


	8. Chapter 8

My eyes slowly open up and I begin to take in my surroundings. I'm in my bedroom and Gale is right next to me; our fingertips are a centimeter from each other. Was he holding my hand? The last thing I remember is looking up at Gale and tripping. He must have brought me here. I look down at Gale, my best friend, my hunting partner, my favorite boy in all of the Seam, he must have been up all night. Even though I've never liked a boy in my whole life, I've only known Gale for a few months and I like him. He doesn't know though; he can't. I know he doesn't, and never will, feel the same way. He thinks were just hunting partners. What would happen if I did tell him? I couldn't, it would be embarrassing, and pointless. I tell myself to stop thinking about it and move into a position to sit up. Pain shoots through my whole body and I slumps back down into a comfortable position. As I am doing this Gale stirrs. He rubs his eyes and looks up at me confused.

"Oh, your up!" He says, both surprised and happy.

"Yeah, thanks for bringing me back," I reply, feeling my cheeks getting red over how much of a klutz I am.

"How do you feel?" Gale asks, concerned.

"Oh I'll be fine, just a headache. Were you here all night," I reply, curious

"Yeah," my face probably looked surprised because he quickly added, "I fell asleep."

"Oh okay, well should we go now?"

"Yeah I'm ready."

We got on our hunting gear grabbed our bags and made our way to the front door. He was a little bit in front of me so I figured he would walk out first but then he gestured to let me go first. I was confused and then gestured for him to go first and then we both went at the same time. Awkward.

"Sorry, you can go," I said stepping back, red with humiliation.

The rest of the walk to the woods was silent, we were both pretty tired. On the way I decided to just think about things, about Gale. Could I really like him? If I do, does he know? Well I know he doesn't feel the same way so I don't have to worry about that.

"Katniss!" Gale says, waving his hands in front of my face.

I realize he's been trying to talk to me. "Sorry, thinking," I reply.

"Me too, what are you thinking about?"

I am so shocked by this question I stop dead in my tracks. Gale never says stuff like that, he just says okay.

"Oh um, j-just the weather, it's getting pretty cold out." I say back, yelling at my self in my head for not coming up with a better excuse.

"Oh, yeah it is," he replies with a perplexed look on his face.

"Katniss! Gale!" I turn around to see Petal and Blaise walking to us.

"Hey guys!" I say, surprised to see them near my house.

" We were just coming to your house, we wanted to know when we should all get together again," Petal asks.

"Oh well we could do it tonight if you-"

"Yes! See you there!" Petal replies enthusiastically. We say our goodbyes and keep walking.

Gale and I are at the fence in no time and slide under. While were almost done I look to the right of me and see a strawberry busy. I immediately think of Neena and Madge. They came to the house with us once. Maybe we could invite them tonight. I tell Gale and he agrees we begin to pick strawberries.  
>Were done our hunting earlier than usual, so we just sit down and rest for a while, side by side leaning on the trunk of a huge tree, my head leaning on his shoulder and his head leaning on mine. Not talking. Just thinking. I feel spontaneous and think, if not now, then when?<p>

"Gale, I've been meaning to tell you something," I say turning towards my best friend, my hunting partner, my crush.

"Yeah?" Gale asks, anticipation on his face.

"Well I," I immediately chicken out, what was I thinking? I can't do this. "I- I wanted to just say thanks for all of your help, the past few months have been amazing." I say, not lying but not being 100% truthful.

"Oh," Gale replies as the glow of anticipation slides off his face, "yeah no problem, you too."

I instantly feel awkward and say, "ready to go?"

"Yeah sure," Gale gets up and holds his hand down. I take it, not wanting to let go. Once I'm up we stare into each other's eyes for a moment, our hands still locked. A bird chirps and we both look away and drop our hands. I begin to walk towards the fence, and I hear Gale scurry from behind, trying to wipe the redness off his face, I hide mine because I am doing the same.

We make it to the Hob quickly and first go to Greasy Sae's for a bowl of soup. Gale tells me he'll be right back and walks away.

"Ah, still with Gale I see," Greasy Sae says.

"No, were just hunting partners, I've told you before," I reply, trying to sound truthful.

"You like him though."

"Yes I do, and whats so wrong with that?" I say, regretting it after it came out of my lips. "Wait, no I didn't mean that!"

"Honey, don't try and deny it I know it's true, and there's nothing wrong with that, he sure is handsome. But I hope you know that he feels the same way."

I immediately begin to laugh, "Haha, right. No he doesn't."

"I've told you before, and I'm right. Next time your together, why don't you think about it."

I nod. Sure, whatever you say, I think to myself.

Gale returns, we finish our soup and head over to Pierce.

"Hey Pierce," I say looking what he has today.

"Hello Katniss, Gale." Pierce replies politely.

"Oh Pierce, we're gonna meet tonight, okay?" Gale informs.

"Okay, I'll be there."

Gale and I finish up our trading and head over to the mayor's house. Neena opens the door and is beaming at the sight of us. She thanks us for the strawberries and we invite her and Madge to the house.

"Okay sure, we'll go." Neena says, and winks, "See you guys later."

Gale and I walk back towards our houses, and he walks me to my house, like he does every other day.

"I'll come over and get you then we can go tonight, okay?" I say.

"Okay, sounds good." Out of habit of our everyday lives we step into each other's arms and hug. His hands around my waist and mine around his neck, not awkward at all, like I said this kid is my best friend.

"See you later," I say and wave good bye as I walk through the door. I sit down at my table thinking about Gale, yet again.

**Wow seriously thank you all so much for these reviews! Last chapter was going to be my last but you guys are amazing and I couldn't let you down! I wrote this during bio class today so sorry if theres some typos! I need your opinion though, should I continue with the story line, or just end it here? If I keep writing it might take long for the chapters to get up, like a week. But if I stop here, you won't get to hear the rest of the storyline! So please review your opinions! Shout ****out to ****Aria-dancingdolphins15, who left me a great review and also shout out to Cloudie-Daze, Cloud-lover26, Ellenka, and teamGale143 for always reading/reviewing! **


	9. Chapter 9

I walk away from Katniss' house, still thinking about her. What was she going to say today? I know she was just lying, was she going to say something about us?

I am broken out of thought by Pierce walking to me across the road.

"Hey Pierce," I say curious as to why he's here.

"Hi Gale, my uncle didn't need any help at the Hob so I decided I would stop in and say hey."

"Okay well what's up?" I reply knowing he's here for something. I never really thought about it but Pierce and I look somewhat alike. He's tall, he has dark brown hair, is muscular, and handsome.

"Are you and Katniss…. Together?"

"What? Why would you think that?" I reply offensively.

"No I was just wondering, I think she likes you."

"What? No. Were just friends."

"Okay well you like her then."

"What, are you crazy? NO, like I said were just friends," I reply, thinking to myself about how everyone knows. So many people have asked me about it, my mom, Sae, Prim, Pedal and Blaise, Neena and Madge, and now Pierce too.

His face lit up a bit. "Oh well it seems like you do, she's really pretty and I think she likes you."

I shake my head, laughing at the thought of Katniss feeling the same way about me. Maybe she does. Maybe that's what she was going to tell me. She's my best friend and knows everything there is to know about me. I trust her with everything I have. Maybe I should talk to her about it.

Who am I kidding? I break myself out of this fairytale and tell Pierce I have to go and I'll see him later.

"Okay see you then."

I am laying in my bed and hear a knock on my door, I figure it's Katniss, I say come in and she walks into my room.

"Get up sleepy head!" she says laughing and jumps onto my bed, sitting cross-legged next to me.

"You ready to go?" she asks looking down at me.

"Yeah a few more minutes, I just want to lay here." I reply, tired from being up all night.

She doesn't need to say anything but I know she agrees and she lays down next to me. We spend minutes looking up at the ceiling, both of us busy in thought. With less sleep then usual the night before my eyes slowly begin to close.

"Gale, Gale!" I hear through my dreams. I feel someone shaking my arm gently. I realize I have fallen asleep and look up to find Katniss above me.

"Morning sunshine," she says and laughs, "we both fell asleep."

"Haha, good morning to you too, should we go know?"

"Let's go," she replies and I jump off the bed and hold my hands out to help her up. She grabs my hands and I pull her up and she jumps down off the bed. Our faces are just centimeters apart and here we stand, hand and hand. I look down into her questioning brown eyes. I drop her hands and cup her face with my hands. I lean my head down and kiss her.

It was probably the most spontaneous thing I have ever done. At first she is surprised, but then I feel her arms wrap around me. After a few seconds I forget to breathe and slowly pull away I look down at her and she smiles up at me. We don't need to say anything. We communicate silently; we both feel the same way. She laughs and grabs my hand. We walk out the door; our hands locked and make our way to the house.

The walk was silent but not awkward. We were holding hands the whole time, and once we were almost there she turned to face me. I look around and no one is near. I grab her other hand and look down into her eyes. She lets go of my hands and puts her arms around my neck and I wrap my arms around her waist. We just stand here, hugging in the middle of the road, holding onto this moment for as long as possible. She says everyone probably waiting for us and we begin to walk to the house.

Once we walk through the doors everyone begins to question us and asks where we've been.

"We fell asleep, sorry guys," Katniss says.

"Oh its no problem!" Petal says, her perky self. We all say hello to each other and just hang out for a bit.

"Guys I've been meaning to tell you all something," Pierce says, "word around the Hob is that the Capitol is coming to our district for evaluations next.

Evaluations; every year the capitol picked a new district to impose upon. They stayed for a month and made sure everything was okay, they wouldn't want a rebellion now would they? They basically come in and change all of our customs back to what they want them to be. This usually means the Hob will be closed and hunting is basically impossible.

I look over at Katniss and see the terror in her eyes. How will we feed our families?

"Hey Katniss can you come outside real quick?" I ask, figuring we need a plan now.

We walk outside and immediately begin thinking of what we can do.

"Gale, this isn't that bad, they'll only be here for a month and we just need to spend the next week all day every day hunting, we can keep the meat frozen, and buy things we can store at the Hob."

"Okay, I guess its not that bad," I reply.

Just to reassure me she goes on her tiptoes and kisses my cheek. I smile and we walk back inside. We spend the rest of the night just hanging out and having fun. Someone decides to play truth or dare.

Most of the dares were pretty stupid and the only one that really mattered was once it started to get late and I asked for a truth. It was from Petal.

"Do you like Katniss?" she asks with a wink.

"Yes, I do," I look over at her and smile.

"Well Katniss! Do you?" Asks Petal with anticipation.

"Yes! You guys were all right," Katniss says and laughs.

Petal is now bursting with happiness and the whole rest of the night we spend being pestered with questions. Once it gets really late we all say our goodbyes and begin to walk home. The walk home me and Katniss spend talking about the Capitol coming and what we should do about it. We figure out our plan as soon as we get to Katniss' house. I don't want to say good bye but I know I have to.

"I'll see you tomorrow morning?" She asks.

"Bright and early," I say and she laughs. I move close to her and put my arms around her. Not knowing if I should kiss her or not, maybe that would be too much.

**Well I put this chapter up like really quickly cause I had a study hall today. Haha well I hope you guys like it! And I know you may think it's moving too fast but just remember that they have known each other for like 5 months now. So don't be afraid to review! I reallllllyy want to know your thoughts! ! Thanks so much again ! **


	10. Chapter 10

I went on my tiptoes, Gale was so much taller than me, put my arms around his neck and kissed him. He obviously was not expecting this, and was taken aback. Once he realized what's going on he wrapped his arms around me, picked me up and kissed me back fiercely. We stayed like this for a few moments, just enjoying being in each other's arms. I pulled away slowly and held onto him. I invited him in for a few minutes, I didn't want him to leave. He held my hand and told him he would put me to bed. We walked into my room and I layed down and he sat next to me and held my hand. We just sat there for a bit and enjoyed the silence. I started to get tired and my eyelids became heavy. He leaned down and wrapped his arms underneath of me and touched his forehead to mine. I kissed him lightly and pulled back. He sat me up and kissed me back. I ran my fingers through his hair, something I've been wanting to do ever since I met him. This was definitely the most fierce kiss, his arms were wrapped tightly around my waste and his lips were pressed closely upon mine. I didn't resist and kissed back even more intensely. I never want to leave this moment. But I have to. And I was broke from it my none other than my mother.

"Katniss! What are you doing?" my mom said as she ran through the door enraged.

"Wait, mom! I've been meaning to tell you something."

She looked at us. Sitting on my bed kissing. I admit it looks way worse than it really is. Gale slowly took his arms from my waist and stood up.

"Good night Katniss," he said.

"Night," I reply, more red than a tomato.

He says by to my mom and walks out of the door. Here it comes I think to myself.

"Katniss! How could you do this? Bringing a boy into your room?"

"Mom it wasn't like that he was coming to say goodnight."

"But aw honey I'm so happy for you!"

"What?" I say immediately confused. "What do you mean?"

"Well Gale told me! He wanted to have my permission, what a sweet boy."

"Oh, and yeah I know," I reply with a laugh.

"Get some sleep honey," my mom says and walks out of the door. I quickly fall asleep.

I wake up the next morning extra early in anticipation to see Gale. I walk outside and hes waiting for me. I look at him and we both burst out in laughter. I run up to him and throw myself into his arms he hugs me tightly and kisses me head. Our morning was just like normal: we hunted, visited Wik, made some food, and yes we kissed. A lot. Once we had enough for a few days we walked to the Hob, hand in hand. As soon as we walked in everyone started pestering us with questions. We laughed and agreed with all the "I told you!"'s. The word around the Hob is that the capitol was sending people in exactly a week. The Hob is closing in 4 days. Gale and I trade all of our game from that day with anyone we could store, like canned foods. We walked home and it was already about 7 o'clock. We now have enough food for about a week. Now we just need to work this hard to store up for a month. I leaned up against the wall of my house and Gale came up and pressed his body against mine. He slowly put his lips against mine and cupped my face with his hands. I pulled away and told him I should get inside.

"Why don't you come to my house tonight, for dinner?" Gale says.

"Okay," I say with a smile. He kisses me on the cheek and turns to walk back to my house. I lean up against the wall, what could be better than this?

I get myself ready and go to Gale's house. He is waiting outside for me. He hugs me tightly.

"You look beautiful."

"Thank you," I reply with a smile.

We walk in the house and Gale's whole family is sitting at the table. I am taken by shock because I was not expecting this. I thought it would just be me and Gale.

I sit down at the table, prepared for anything, as long as I have Gale, holding my hand under the table, I can do anything.

**Exxttrreeemely shortttt chapter, I thought better to upload and it be short then to not upload at all. Well I'm thinking of writing a story on fictionpress. What do you guys think? Any ideas? Please let me know! Read and review please! I really want to know your thoughts! **


	11. Chapter 11

"Nice to meet you Katniss," my mom said smiling at Katniss from across the table.

"Nice to meet you too, thanks for having me," Katniss replied respectfully.

"Well I expect you like wild game," mom says with a chuckle.

"Haha, yes, I do."

My mom sat down a pot of her best meal on the table: pheasant and dried plums stew.

"Wow this looks delicious," says Katniss looking at the meal my mom had prepared.

"It's my favorite dinner she makes," I said, squeezing Katniss' hand under the table.

We begin to eat and the questioning session begins.

"So Katniss, tell me about yourself," my mom says, dipping her fork into her bowl.

Katniss sets her fork down on the edge of the bowl and sits up straighter. "Well I'm 16, um, I have a little sister, Prim. Um, I live with my mom and Prim. Um….that's really it. My life's not that interesting."

"Well that's okay, ours isn't either," my mom says, laughing.

We went through dinner, asking and answering questions about ourselves. It went pretty well actually. Once we were done eating Katniss said thank you and I walked her outside.

I put my arms around her and looked into her eyes.

"Well that went pretty well," Katniss said laughing, looking up at me.

I just nodded and looked down at her, she's perfect. Her silverish eyes reflected my the moonlight. Her hair is in a usual braid down her back, a few stray pieces falling around the side of her face. I love her, but I don't know when the right time would be to tell her.

"I better get home, see you tomorrow morning," Katniss said.

"Okay, yeah see you then," I reply leaning down and kissing her head, and wrapping my arms more tightly around her. She pulled away, smiled, and began walking to her house.

I walk into my room, already mad at myself for not saying what I should have. I tell myself I'm going to do it tomorrow. We're going to have a picnic by the lake, and I'll tell her then.

I lay down in my bed, already planning on waking up early to get everything ready. As soon as my head hits the pillow I'm out.

My eyes open and I jump out of bed, I overslept. I immediately start getting my things ready, preparing for the day with Katniss. I can't wait to see her.

I walk out out of the front door, jogging to the woods, hoping Katniss won't be mad about my lateness.

Once I get there though, she's not there. I'm confused because she should have been here by now but I decide she must be running late. I sit down on what looks like the softest spot and lean my head against a tree. I yawn and realize how tired I am. I close my eyes for a minute and next thing I know I'm drifting into sleep.

The distant chirp of a bird wakes me. I slowly lift my heavy eyelids and look around me. I'm confused as to where I am and then my senses come back to me. I fell asleep! I look at the sun to try and figure out what time it is. It is at least 10 o'clock, I slept for 4 hours. Where is Katniss? If she came already she would of woke me up if she was here already. My nervousness kicks in, I jump up and immediately begin to sprint to Katniss' house.

I arrive at the front door panting and begin knocking on the door frantically. Maybe she's not feeling well, or maybe she overslept.

"Gale, good morning," Mrs. Everdeen says, surprised to see me.

"Where's Katniss?" I say still panting from my sprint to get here.

"Well what do you mean? I thought she was with you!" Mrs. Everdeen says, horror coming over her face.

**Hi everyone! Sorry it took me so long to upload and sorry about how short this is! I needed to make it like this in order for the plot to work out. PLEASE read/review let me know your thoughts or any suggestions you have that you want me to include in the story! Well thanks again for reading and reviewing you guys are awesome! (:**


	12. Chapter 12

I am in the back of what people from the capitol call a "car." There are 2 capitol guards in the front seats and 2 in the back. I am trying to get the cloth binding my wrists together, but I know it will just get worse if I keep struggling. I begin recounting the events of the morning.

A few hours ago when I was walking to the woods out of nowhere 2 full grown men come behind me cover my mouth and drag me into this "car." They immediately start asking me questions, and interrogating me.

"Katniss Everdeen, why were you hunting in the woods illegally?" One guard screams in my face.

The other says, "We know about your secret, and your little pretty boy, Gale."

My stomach twisted into a knot at the thought of Gale. He is probably so worried. The men keep telling me they know my secret and I know I'm screwed. We knew they were coming, how did they find out about me? Who told them? Someone betrayed me, it only could have been a few people: the people from the Hob(who I doubt it would be, seeing as there at fault too), Petal and Blaise, Wik (who is most likely isn't seeing as he's hiding from them in the woods), Pierce, or Neena or Madge. And then the worst thought comes to me….Gale. Would he do this to me? Maybe this whole thing about how he likes me and me and him is a lie in order to make me trust him, maybe it really was Gale. Why would Gale, the most handsome and most respectful boy in the Seam like me, the poor girl who never talks to anyone who has no looks at all? Then I realized it, Gale was the one who betrayed me. How could I ever be so stupid? I hate him with everything I have, I can't believe he would do this to me. I immediately pushed Gale from my mind, not wanting anything to do with him.

Well back to the events of the morning I have been in this car for a few hours, driving to none other than the Capitol itself.

I am broken out of my thoughts by a capitol guard who comes in the back and takes the cloth from around my mouth. I stretch it widely, feeling the scratches the cloth left.

"What do you want?" I say trying to make a statement that I'm not afraid of them even thought I am trembling with fear on the inside.

"Don't talk to me like that little girl, I have the power to do with you whatever I want, your fate lies in my hands," says the guard with a sickening smirk.

"Greg, I can take it from here," says a guard from up front, he comes into the back of the car and sits in front of me turned to look at me.

"What the hell do you want with me?" I say, I had enough of this.

"Woah woah, listen you should be happy that I'm back here and not him," he said nodding his head towards Greg. "Last person we had in here he kicked in the face."

I slide back not wanting this to happen to me.

"No I won't do that I just want you to know I got your back, I know you were only doing what you did to save your family, I get it, I was like you too."

I was taken aback but immediately put my guard back up. "Whatever," I say trying to not show the fact that I wanted to know his story.

"He stretches out his arm and says, "nice to meet you, my name is Owen."

"Right back at you but I can't shake your hand," I say and wiggle my hands that are tied together.

"Oh right sorry about that, I never did this." He takes a pocket knife out of his pocket and cuts of the cloth binding my wrists together.

I rub them thankfully. "Thanks," I say wondering why hes being so nice. I look at his face for the first time. He has bright green eyes and dark dark brown hair shorter at the sides and longer in the middle, almost like a foe-hawk. He has a sprinkling of freckles across his nose and has a somewhat angelic/bad boy look to him.

"Anytime," he says and turns back around in his seat.

As bad as this day has been so far, it's good that I have at least someone on my side.

**Okay be ready for a LONG note. Okay I know this is short and I know I haven't updated in a while but I can't write much more today so I figured I'll just upload short chapters but MUCH MUCH quicker. Some people stopped reviewing and I realllllllllllllllly want you guys to review like a few weeks ago when I wrote like 3 chapters in one day, it was because of an AMAZING review I got from someone, it just motivates me I guess. So I guess what I'm trying to say is review review review review review review review review! Ppppppleeeease! Haha well yeah I hope everyone likes this chapter, and the little twist of events (; from here on out the plot has been established so it should be smoooooth-sailing. Well yeah I hope to be updating soon since break is almost here! Woooooohooo well anyways again please review/read thanks you guys are A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!**


	13. Chapter 13

I am sitting in Mrs. Everdeen's house. We have been here for over 2 hours, trying to find out what happened to Katniss. We haven't been very successful though, because all she is doing is crying. What happened to her? This is all my fault, if I hadn't been late maybe I could of seen what happened. I can't just sit here all day, I need to do something.

"I'll be back later with food," I say and walk out the door. We need more food; we only have enough for about 2 weeks right now. I might as well do something productive. I can't even walk straight because of how upset I am. All I can think about is Katniss. I form a mental image of her in my head: her laughing, with a braid down her back, and her gorgeous eyes staring up at me. What the hell happened to her? What am I going to do? I won't be able to live with my self, with the guilt, if I find out something very bad happened.

I spend the next few hours hunting as much as I could and get some strawberries for the mayor. While there I talk to Neena and Madge and ask them to get the whole gang to go to the house tonight.

"Um, sure, is everything okay?" Neena asks.

"No I need to tell you guys something just be there around 7," I say needing to get back to Katniss' house, not having time to go to the Hob.

There faces look very confused and I didn't have the mind set to explain now. I've never been this worried before.

I get back to Katniss' house and Mrs. Everdeen looks better.

"Gale listen, we're thinking of the worst okay, we need to try and figure this out," she says, trying to act like she knows what she's doing and that she has a plan but I know she doesn't and I know that she is trying exceptionally hard to not break down.

"Okay I'm going to meet up with our friends tonight and we're going to make a plan. Don't worry Mrs. Everdeen," I say and hug her. Knowing how much she probably doesn't want to see me right now.

I walk out the door before she has a chance to reply. I spend the next few hours just thinking, what could of happened to her? Once I know what happened, nothing will stop me from rescuing her. Or maybe that option is gone, maybe I'm too late. I push this from my mind knowing that if this is true I won't be able to function.

I walk to the house and am the first person there. Slowly people start arriving.

I end up telling them the whole story. Pierce was trying to interrupt me while I was talking but I wouldn't let him. "So now we have no idea what happened to her or where she is."

"GALE! LISTEN! Don't you all know yet?" Pierce says quizzically looking at each one of us.

"Pierce what the hell are you talking about?" I say feeling bad about this outburst but I don't really care right now all I care about is Katniss right now.

"The capitol is here."

The look on our faces must have been crazy.

"That's why the Hob was closed today, didn't you go?"

"No today was the one day that I didn't go to the Hob," I say, horror coming over me. Now I know that it's the capitol who has Katniss.

"Well they're here, and they're in disguise for a while. You know scoping things out and then they'll totally interfere with everything." Pierce says.

"Well now we know it's the capitol. They have her," I say, not able to think of anything because of the fear in my mind right now. My Katniss: my best friend, my hunting partner, the one true love of my whole life, the most beautiful person I have ever met in my whole life, inside and out. And the capitol has her right now, her innocent self, just trying to keep her family from starving. She is strong though and she won't go down without a fight.

"Gale what are we going to do?" Petal says, tears in her eyes.

Everyone is looking at me with questioning faces. "What do you mean?" I say back, looking at them even more confused. "We're going to get her."

**Hey everyone well I haven't really uploaded in a while and I'm sorry I've been pretty busy. So before I wrote this chapter I re-read the whole story and I admit I laughed a lot. I had SO many typos haha probably because most of this story was written during school, trying to hid my laptop from my teachers. But yeah I guess it's getting pretty intense lol so yeah. Haha well PLEASEREVIEW! Like if your reading it just review ahha I just want to know everyone's thoughts, or any suggestions you have. Well I guess that's it for now! I hope you all have a good holiday(: I'm going to try and upload a lot! Thanks again to my avid readers and reviewers! You are all amazing! **


	14. Chapter 14

The car stops suddenly and my body flies forward and I awake from my sleep. I see no sun coming in through the windows at the front of the car so I decide that it's the middle of the night. I rub my head; it hurts from being in this car for so long. It's been almost a day since I was captured; and almost a day since I realized that Gale has betrayed me. He was my only hope, if it wasn't him, he would have figured out the fact that the capitol captured me and he was the one person who I know would come and try to rescue me. I la my head down against something that looks like some old ropes and fabric scraps; the things that will probably bind my ankles and wrists once we get to where ever we're going. My eyes slowly close and I fall into a sleepless bliss.

"Rise and shine," I hear someone say and feel there foot nudge my stomach, not so softly.

I look up through sleepy eyes and see one of the capitol guards above me. I have a plan: don't talk, don't respond, don't question, and don't look in their eyes.

"We're here, let's go," says the guard gesturing for me to get up.

I begin to get up and I see Owen open the back doors of the van and jump up. I look away quickly and get up. As soon as I am standing I realize that I haven't used my legs in a whole day and some. My legs shake and I begin to fall, but next thing I know Owen is reaching out and saving me. He steadies me and asks if I'm okay. I look into his huge bright green eyes, as soon as I see the concern in his eyes I know the next step of my plan to get out of here. The mean guard harshly grabs my arm and tells Owen to get the other one. Owen gently grabs my arm right at my elbow, being much nicer then the other guard.

As they forcefully bring me out of the car and into the strange lab-like looking building I think about my plan. I'm going to well I guess you could call it "flirting" but I'm going to "flirt" with Owen and maybe try and get him to think that I like him and maybe he will like me back?

"Hey!" I see Owen's hand waving in front of my face, and realize he's been trying to get my attention.

"Oh sorry," I say in a normal way. Ah I forgot! Act flirty!

"No big deal just wanted to let you know that they're going to ask you a lot of questions in there," he whispers into my ear.

"Thanks for telling me," I say and wink. Oh gosh what am I doing? He had a weird look on his face after I said this. I cannot act "flirty" it's just not me. Maybe I'll just act like myself.

We walk into the doors of this building and they tell me to get changed and throw me into a room with black pants and a black shirt, much nicer then I would have expected, but hey this is the capitol. What the guards don't know is that I had a knife under my foot, I always keep it there. They checked down the side of my boots but not under. I put the switchblade in the only place it won't be discovered: my bra. I re-braid my hair down my back and look into a mirror on the wall. I have totally forgotten about one huge thing this whole time making a plan: I look into my eyes. All I see iss fear. I'm scared for my life right now. They have the right to kill me, what is Prim and my mom going to do without me? I would have thought Gale would keep them alive but I know that is no option anymore. I stop thinking of the worst and focus on trying to get myself out of here right now.

I walk out of the door and Owen is waiting next to me. He got changed himself. He is wearing a black shirt and jeans, who would of thought they're allowed to dress normally? Who cares? He looks pretty good right now. I look at him and he gives me a reassuring look, and smiles.

"I'll show you where you'll be um, sleeping," says Owen, I see sorrow on his face. He walks me to technically a jail cell. A bed in the corner and a change of clothes on the bottom, and the whole thing is inside of jail bars.

"I'm sorry. I tried to convince them but they wouldn't let me. I mean why should a pretty girl like you have to stay in this?" He says, not being corny but actually modest.

"No this is um fine I guess, thanks for trying anyways," I say looking up in his eyes and realizing that they're on me. "What?" I say and awkwardly chuckle.

"Oh um sorry, just staring into space," he says: blatant lie.

"Oh well where do I have to go now?"

"Well they're going to question you so just out of here and upstairs."

I nod and go to walk out of the door/jail opening but Owen goes at the same time and we bump into each other.

"Oh sorry you can go first," I say and let him go. Perfectly awkward! I try to convince myself that I'm getting good at this, I'm really bad though, I mean, I haven't had much practice, I've never liked anyone in my whole life….well besides Gale.

**Hey everyone! Well I hope you like this chapter! Please keep reviewing! And just thought I'd let everyone know that today I re-watched the trailer about 657943028570843750935 billion times and I got midnight tickets! YaYa! Are you ready or what? Well thanks for reading and don't forget to review! Thanks again(: **


	15. Chapter 15

"Are you serious? Gale how are we supposed to get to the capitol, find where she is in the capitol, and rescue her without getting taken in as prisoners or killed?" says Madge.

"So what we just let her stay there and die? Is that what you guys want to happen to her?" I scream, my voice getting louder.

"Gale we never said that but there has to be a way easier than that, and how are we supposed to convince our parents?" says Madge, her voice getting louder now too.

"We don't! Why do they need to know? If you were true friends you would help!"

"Well Gale we all don't have only one parent who doesn't care! My dads the mayor! Count me and Neena out," says Madge as her and Neena grab their things and walk out of the door, followed by Pierce.

"Gale we're sorry but we just can't, good luck," says Petal grabbing Blaise's arm and leaving. I stand there, just amazed, and absolutely positively more lost then I ever have been in my whole life. Even though they all said no there is no doubt in my mind that I'm going to save her no matter what happens. The funny thing is though that I'm not mad at them because it totally is crazy, this idea the chances of me saving her and us both living are slim to none. But without even putting in an effort I won't be able to live with myself.

I go home and decide that I'll sleep oon it, and then try and make a plan. As I'm walking home I see someone getting taken away into something that I'm pretty sure the capitol calls a car. And then I know: I need to get captured and taken in. They'll probably bring me the same place as Katniss, then we can work from there. I pass by my house and walk to Katniss' I tell Mrs. Everdeen everything but she doesn't agree with my plan.

"Gale are you serious? You can't do that, not on your own!"

"No I've made up my mind and I'm doing it. I love your daughter," I say and walk out the door.

I go home, don't eat anything and go to sleep. As I am falling into sleep and my mind is being taken over by nightmares about Katniss, I know that tomorrow will be the day that I get captured and taken to the capitol. I don't care what happens on the way, and who steps in my way. Bring it on. If I have Katniss by my side I can pretty much do anything.

**REALLY short chapter but I will probably be updating another chapter today! So stand by! Um yeah that's pretty much it this time, just keep reviewing I guess! Thanks again! **


	16. Chapter 16

"Hello Katniss Everdeen," says the weird man in the office.

I sit in the hard and uncomfortable chair silent, trying to hide my fear from the man with purple hair and blue eye brows, what is wrong with the picture? He sits in the chair and flicks his pen between his finger unconsciously with an agitated look on his face.

"Listen you can be silent al you want but I have the power here do I not? So if I were you I would stop being so difficult and listen to me or….well you know what I can do so I won't need to mention that,' says the evil man with a sickening smirk across his face. And yes I know exactly what he can do: he can do anything he wants, with me, my family, or Gale. And yes I still care about gale in some weird way, I mean if it truly was him who betrayed me I wouldn't have one care about him but after thinking for a hard and long time I came to a conclusion. It wasn't necessarily him. I mean don't get me wrong I'm not saying he's totally innocent but not 100% guilty either. I acted too dramatically earlier maybe someone from the Hob was being threatened and gave my name to save themselves. Who knows?

I look up at the strange man and realize he's waving his hand trying to get my attention, "Aw dreaming about your precious Gale Hawthorn? Yes I know about him, contain your shock," says the man and my stomach turns. If he knows about Gale then why didn't he capture him? And if he knows about gale then that means Gale wasn't the one who sold me in! That takes so much relief off my back. Just that one fact made me think even more lightly, but then I think about Gale being captured as I was. What are they going to do him? This brings more fear then anything before.

"What are you doing to him?" I say, giving up on trying to hide my fear, knowing that it is visible in every part of my body: my eyes, and the muscles in my body shaking and the fact of how close I am to tears. I never cry.

"Ah I knew that would bring you to talk," says the man smiling "now how about you answer some of my questions," he says talking down to me as if I'm an infant. Normally I would not stand for this I would be saying some sarcastic comeback or something insulting but the fact that my life is in danger and my mom's, Prim's….Gale's. Everyone that I love. I love Gale with everything I own and I never told him. I was so stupid so naive I should of told him as soon as I should because now I will probably never have the chance to.

"Now how long have you been um what should I call it? Defying the law? Hmmmm, sounds about right to me," says the capitol man. At this moment I just want to jump across the table and just attack him, I've never hated one person in my life so much. He is just acting like he is so much higher then me, like I'm some little kid. And the worst part about this whole thing is that I know he's right. I know he already knows the answer to the question so there's no point in lying.

"A while."

"Ah interesting, so you know that this is punishable by death correct?"

I nod

"Okay well I've had enough of your immaturity one day. Owen take her back to her cell please," says the man gesturing for Owen, who was standing by the door, to get me. He roughly grabs my arm and shoves me out the door.

Once we're out in the hallway Owen says, "sorry about that, I had to do it."

"Oh it's fine I get it."

"So you've been hunting for a while eh?"He says looking down at me.

"Yeah pretty much my whole life," I say, looking up at him.

"Yeah me too, that's why I'm here actually."

I look up at him and stop. Okay perfect moment. I walk up to him slowly and look into his eyes. His HUGE green eyes, I'm so close to him that I can see the sprinkle of freckles across his face, I look closer at his hair and see slight blonde highlights in his fo-hawk. Wow he is really attractive. I rap my arms around his neck and whispering thank you in his ear. I feel his arms slide around my waste. Pervert. Okay another perfect timing, I pull away slowly and try my hardest to turn on the tears.

"I m-mean I was j-just trying to s-save my family!" I say in my best sobbing voice.

"Oh," says Owen with shock coming over his face, "oh don't cry, I know what you mean."

"I j-just want to get home, they could die without m-me!" I sob laughing to myself in my head. This is hilarious he's actually buying it! I decide this is enough for tonight and I wipe my eyes on my shirt.

"Okay why don't you just get some sleep?" says Owen gesturing for me to walk forward.

"Okay," I say turning the sobs off.

As we're walking Owen interlocks his hand with mine. Is he serious right now? Wow.

We get down to my "cell" and I walk in an shut the door and lay down without even looking at him.

**Okay so pretty medium length chapter here, kind of uneventful but still factual. So yeah now you know that Owen is kind of a perv and is kind of a loser. I definitely wasn't trying to inforce a love triangle here so I had to clear that out! Well I have kind of a funny story for all you Gale fans, you don't have to read anymore but I found this hilarious. So I went to the library to get mockinjay for my cousin because I told him he couldn't use my book because I knew he would ruin it. So I get the book and flip through it and decide to re-read the epilogue. Ugh bad choice it made me in a bad mood until I turned to the last page that had a big X on it. I turn to the last blank page in the book and it says in big sharpie: GALE+KATNISS=3**

**This seriously made my night. Well sorry for that long note haha but please keep reviewing! Even though I can't see the reviews on the review page I get them through my e-mail. Fanfic must be having like a technical glitch! Well anyways thanks for reviewing a lot! Keep it up please your reviews make my day! Thanks again! **


	17. Chapter 17

Posy's crying wakes me up and I go and get her from her crib and bring her into my room. I lay back down wih my baby sister. She hops onto my chest and starts laughing. Eve n though I'm walking to my death today she can still make me laugh. I'm pretty sure she's the only one besides Katniss who can make me smile. Why did I just think of that? Katniss…. I wonder what they're doing to her. Is she even still alive? I wipe these thoughts from my mind and just focus on my actual plan. I'm going to get caught with a bow and arrow in the town square and they'll have to take me there. I'll act like I barely know Katniss, unless they already know differently, and I'll find Katniss and we'll work from there.

I lift Posy and begin to play her favorite game, airplane; I hold her up above my head and just fly her around like an airplane. She begins to giggle and the sadness sets in. I may never here that giggle again, but I need to do this. I hop off the bed carrying Posy and go to see what's up with Rory and Vick. They're both playing with some little cars that my dad had gotten them for their birthdays. I know I need to leave now so I go up to them and give them a hug and tell them that I love them, I grab my bag and kiss my mom and leave. I tell myself to stop thinking this way, who knows maybe I will be back here again. Lets just think about the plan first and then about what happens after.

I arrive at the town square and notice that someone is following me. I've never seen him before, is the capitol already on to me? Do I not even need to pull my bow? I have a switchblade in a hidden pocket in my pants so if they take me I'll still have that. I decide to let this play out so I walk to an old and dark alley and in there is a van and I know what is happening as soon as I see the guards rush out at me.

One hits me over the head and I fall and feel myself falling into unconsciousness and everything goes black.

I feel something hitting at my head and wake up. Confused at first I look around and then realize that I'm in the back of the thing that capitol people call cars. A guard is kicking at my head with the tip of his boot but not hard. I look up and the man looks down at me. He's odd looking he has green hair and white eyebrows. I'm confused for a second but then I look at all of the guards and they all have extravagantly colored hair.

"Aw look pretty boy woke up," says the guard who was nudging my head. As soon as I sit up pain shoots up my head. I slump back down slowly and decide that position would be better.

I decide that there's no reason to be nice to these guys, it's not like they'll do anything differently.

"So how long have you guys been on to me?" I ask looking at them, laughing to myself at their shocked expressions.

"Oh a while now, you know we got your little girlfriend," says the one capitol guard with a smirk across his face.

I know he's not playing around anymore and the thought of what this guy would do to Katniss brings me up in a sittign position a few inches from his face.

"You do one thing to her and I swear," I say, trying to sound authoritative but I know it's no use. This guy has more power than me and he knows it.

"Aw now isn't that cute?" says the man, "too late buddy."

Fear rushes throughout my whole body and the car lurches forward. I regain my balance, and say to the man, "what are you talking about." I've given up on trying to be authoritative or brave because I'm not, especially not without Katniss.

"Get out," says a man from behind. I turn around and the back doors are swinging open and the nasty guard pushes me through forcefully. Fortunately I don't fall, I catch myself and I can see the madness on his face. We begin walking towards a building that resembles a lab. We go in, walk down a few staircases and I see a dingy kind of jail room with cells. And only one of them is occupied by a person sleeping with their back towards me. I see the rise and fall of the person's body, reassuring myself that whoever it is, their alive.

As soon as I see the braid down her back, I know it's her. I know it's Katniss.

**I guess this was somewhat uneventful, I didn't really like this chapter, I have no time to do anything today so I wrote this in 20 minutes, I wasn't going to update until I wrote some more but knew I wouldn't have time for a while so figured even though it's not that good I might as well update it. Well yeah thanks so much to all my reviewers! This chapter is dedicated to a new reader! Vbtaytay! Left a great review and really inspired me to keep writing. Thanks a lot to my other reviewers: emilyroorose, cloud-lover26, Ellenka, and Cloudy Daze! Keep reviewing! (: **


	18. Chapter 18

I hear someone coming down into the "jail" part of the building. My back is turned towards them so they probably think I'm sleeping. I know it's a guard so maybe he will leave me alone if I'm "asleep." I hear someone opening the jail cell next to mine, and I'm immediately confused. Why is someone opening another jail cell? Is there a new prisoner? I decide to wait even though I really want to see what's going on. Maybe I'll hear something they don't want me to.

"Aw look like your girl is asleep," says someone with a deep voice, probably a capitol guard. "What now you've got nothing to say pretty boy, after being so mouthy in the van?"

Wow, they were taken in just like me. Who could this new prisoner be? And why are they here?

"Coward," says the guard and I hear a thud. After a few seconds of silence I realize he has just kicked the new prisoner. I feel the thud of someone falling down; the guard slams the door and walks up the steps, and out of the jail area.

I lay in bed, not sure if I should look or not.

"Katniss.." Says the person in the cell, with a strain to his voice, the kick was worse than I thought. After a second of thinking who this person could be I put it all together. I hop off of my bunk and look down. The visual is terrible: Gale, my Gale, lying on the floor, blood streaming from his left temple.

"Gale, w-what are you doing here? I-I…." I have nothing to say, I can't even think right now. Gale is here. I thought I would never see him again.

"Katniss," says Gale, reaching over to me.

"Okay wait, we need to stop the bleeding," I say, thought coming back to my head. I rip the bottom of the black shirt that the capitol supplied to me off and rip it down the middle. I reach through the bars and tell Gale he needs to sit up. He sits up slowly and closes his eyes, I can tell how much pain he is in. I gently tie the cloth around his head and tie it. I tell him he can turn around, and we are face to face, nothing separating me from my best friend, the one guy I have ever loved, besides bars. I put my hands up to his face and he is shaking.

"Gale you need to get sleep we can talk when you're up," I say dropping my hands. And out of nowhere tears begin to fall out of my eyes. Seeing him in this much pain just makes me want to attack whoever did this to him. He half crawls/walks over to his bunk and just immediately falls asleep, or passes out. I don't know.

I sit there, crouched down on my knees, unable to move. Gale is here. Tears are still coming out of my eyes as I hear someone coming down. I immediately get on guard and jump in my bed, drying my eyes.

"Katniss," says Owen. I turn around and he is right in front of my cell. Okay I need to be smart with this. I have to act like there isn't anything between me and Gale.

"Hi," I say, standing up.

"You know that's Gale right?"

"Eh, yeah," I say, acting as nonchalant as possible.

"What do you mean I thought you and him were like, a thing like I thought you guys liked each other," he replies with a somewhat shocked expression on his face.

"Well we did but not anymore," I say, trying to be a convincing liar.

"Oh so does that mean you're like single?"

"Well I mean yes I am but I need to get out of here before anything," I say, not even sure what to think. I mean it's obvious now that he has some kind of feelings for me, but why? Gale is gorgeous, like breathtaking, my best friend. But Owen is just, sexy. He's kind of dark and mysterious but at the same time somewhat angelic. Why would he like a girl like me?

"Come here," he says gesturing for me to go closer. I step up and he whispers in my ear, "maybe I can help you with that, but first you need to answer all of the Presidents questions."

"Wait that guy up there was the president?" I say, amazed.

"Yes, and he wants something from you," says Owen, staring down into my eyes.

"W-what do you mean," I say forgetting to flirt.

"I don't know he just wants you to do something."

Against my will I reach for his hands through the bar. Ugh, first off the only reason I am doing this is because he can help me escape! And second, ew, his hands are sweaty.

"What though, what does he want?" I say, actually scared.

"He wants-"

"Owen get up here! You're needed in the right lab! Now!" screams someone from above.

Owen drops my hands and tells me he has to go. Next thing I know he is running up the steps 2 at a time and I am standing their dumbstruck. What does the President want with me? I hear a moan from my right and realized that Gale is beginning to stir.

I go over to where our cells meet.

"Gale, how are you feeling," I say, scared for the answer.

"I'm good, just a head ache."

"Gale you don't know how much I've missed you. At first I thought it was you who told the capitol about me. I didn't know what to do with myself. If it weren't for you I probably would be dead, me and my family. Once I met you, life actually started to make sense to me. Ever since I first met you my life has been so much better. Gale I don't know what I would do without you. I really don't. And I'm sorry for never saying that, for never telling you how much you mean to me! Ever since we first met I have liked you. I was stupid, so stupid for not telling you how I felt earlier. It started the second day we hunted. And then when I fell and you caught me. It just felt so right, like that moment, me in your arms just forgetting about the world and just worrying about each other. And then Sae told me you liked me and I never thought it was true. She told me all the time and I had no idea where she was getting this idea from. She told me that she could tell that I liked you, and I denied it, because at that point I hadn't even admitted to myself that it was true. I thought about you every night and wondered if you would ever feel the same. You mean the world to me Gale. I mean I'm babbling now but really Gale. I mean, I just, I love you Gale."

"I don't even know what to say back to that," says Gale, and I get worried. "Katniss all you need to know is that I love you so much. I love you more than anything in this whole world."

"He walked up to the bars separating our cells and cupped my face through them. We stood there for a few moments just looking into each other's eyes.

For some reason I begin to laugh.

"Haha what?" says Gale.

"I don't know I mean I never thought I would say that to anyone in my whole life. Like wow I'm proud of myself; that was deep!" I say.

"I know haha, but what was that about you thinking it was me who told the capitol about you?"

"Well the whole ride here I thought about who it could be. And I came to a conclusion that it had to be you. I told myself that no one like you would ever love a girl like me. But then the President told me that he knew about you."

"I would never do that to you. And no the capitol came into District 12 earlier then we thought. They were disguised, someone must have told them about us."

"Yeah, but Gale why are you here? I mean they could of just killed me but one of the guards told me that the president wants something from me. I mean do they want something from you too?"

"Well I kind of walked into it, I was going to come here and try to rescue you. But one morning someone was following me so I walked to where no one would see us and of course there was a capitol van just waiting to pick me up and take me here. And what? What does he want from you and why would a guard tell you that?"

"You were coming for me? Why would you do that? Risk your life for me?"

"Katniss, because I love you."

"I love you too Gale."

He smiles and looks up at me and says, "but wait why would a guard tell you that?"

When he says that it totally reminds me of Owen and the fact that I'm imprisoned.

"Oh well there's this guard and his name is Owen. He was super nice to me on the way here and I decided I would act like I liked him so maybe he would help me escape and I think its working! I mean I think he likes me!" I say, happy of my accomplishments.

The look on Gale's face is not what I thought it would be. "So what? You like this guy now? Owen?" He says, his eyes becoming stony and cold.

"No, no Gale! It's just to help me escape, to help us escape, and its working!"

"Oh, okay good you scared me there for a minute," he says with a side smile that makes me melt. I can't believe how much I've missed him.

"Okay maybe I should start from the beginning," I say and tell him everything that has happened from the time I got captured up until now.

"Okay so you're trying to get him to help us escape, but the president wants something from you?" Gale says, taking in the events of the past few days.

"Correct, and no one can know that we're together, we have to act like we hate each other."

"Okay, got it."

We sit there for a few moments in silence. And then we hear someone coming down the steps. It's Owen.

"Hey Owen," I say, smiling at him.

"Hey, so I've got some good news!" he says, I get excited as soon as he says this. "Well I mean I guess it's good. The president is moving you guys upstairs into the real rooms."

"Oh finally, I hate it down here," I say, kind of happy actually but at the same time confused, why are they trying to be nice to us?

"Okay so I'm taking you guys up now," he says unlocking my cell and Gale's too. I walk out of my cell and stand in anticipation to just wrap my arms around Gale, but then reality comes back and I remember I can't. Gale comes out and Stands right next to me. I just want to hug him, right now. He makes sure to stand not too close because we are supposed to hate each other. I look up and Owen is walking towards me. What is he doing?

He puts himself between me and Gale, puts his hands around my waist and kisses me. I am totally taken aback and grossed out. I go to pull away but then remember I have to act like I like him. I put my arms around him and kiss back. Hopefully I can explain this to Gale and just get him mad at Owen and not me. I open my eye and see Gale standing behind us, totally pissed off.

**Woah LONNNNNNG chapter, I was going to write like a reallllllllllllllly short one because I have stuff to do but figured that would be lame so I made this really long. Haha what an over-achiever (; but anyways yeah A LOT of drama in**

**this chapter. Finnalllllllly they're back together haha but Owen? What? Haha you'll have to wait and see! And I was wondering if any of you have tumblrs? I really need some new THG blogs to follow! Well if you do please leave it in a review! Oh and that reminds me! REVIEWREVIEWREVIEREVIEW! You guys are seriously amazing and the other day I was thinking about the reality that I'm going to have to end the story at some point…..waaaaaahhh): it was more sad to me then you would think haha but sorry for such a long note lol. Well yes please keep reviewing! They motivate me to write! **


	19. Chapter 19

I looked at Katniss and Owen in horror. I see Katniss looking at me and her body goes rigid, I turn around not even able to look at that scum touching my girl. I hear fast breathing so I figure the happy couple has parted and turn back around to see Katniss staring at me with such a strong intent, I look into her eyes and they're pleading. I know those eyes, I can tell everything she's feeling and everything she wants to say just from those blissful eyes. She's trying to say that this was just an act to get Owen deeper in her grasp but still the picture of him wrapping his arms around her totally disgusts me to a point at which I think I could throw up.

"Wow," says Owen, beet red.

Katniss averts her gaze from me and smiles sheepishly at Owen, wow she can really act.

"Okay well anyways let's take you two upstairs," says Owen turning towards the steps and gesturing for us to follow. Even from behind I can see the grin on his face.

I look at Katniss and she shakes her head, I figure I might as well just not be mad because in the end her plan might just work and that could have helped us A LOT.

We walk up the steps and Owen leads us through the hospital looking building up another flight of stairs to a section of the building that looks like the grandest thing I have ever seen. The floors are lined with lavish carpets that I couldn't even think of how much they cost. The walls are draped with expensive looking tapestry, and chandliers hung all over. If this is the hallway I wonder what the rooms look like! I think to myself.

"On the downside you have to share a room," says Owen, frowning slightly.

Ha! He thinks we'll be upset about this. He opens a door and tells Katniss to go in and make her self comfortable and plants a kiss on her forehead. My blood begins to boil and all I want to do is attack him. I go to walk in the room but Owen blocks the entryway.

"Not so quick buddy, listen she's mine and she absolutely can not stand you so if I were you I would keep your hands off of my girl," says Owen.

"Trust me I wouldn't touch her if you paid me!" I say laughing inwardly to myself.

"Good now run along little boy," says Owen in a mocking tone and pats me on the head before turning around and walking down the hallway. I stare at him until darkness fills the spot in which he stood.

I walk in the room and see Katniss lying on a couch. My eyes slowly take in my surroundings. There are two small beds side by side, the floor is covered by an intricate looking deep red carpet. There are a few chairs and couches scattered around the room and also there is a very complex and difficult table with buttons and wires that I make a mental note to myself saying not to touch it . I look over at Katniss and realize she's watching me.

"Gale it's really not what it looked like," she said quietly.

"What you think I'm mad?" I said, not really knowing my feelings about it.

"You're not?" she says with hope.

"I don't know, I mean I know you're just trying to help us, but just seeing him, just seeing you wrapped in someone elses arms, I just can't get over it, that should be me, not him."

Her eyes lost any hope that was once there and now became non-descript and hard to read, "Gale please don't be mad at me, what do you want me to just shrug him off and then get him to treat us bad, not let us get out of here?"

I sighed and took a step to her intertwining my hands with hers, "no Katniss I'm not mad at you, it's just I've missed you so much. Not seeing you every morning, not walking you to your house every day, I know it's only been a few weeks but I can't not see you, I- I just love you and to see you kissing someone else pissed me off but I'm not mad at you, okay?" I say looking down into her eyes just mere inches from her face I don't know if this is a wrong time to kiss her but I don't have to worry about that because she goes on her tiptoes and kisses me.

At first it was slow but then I realized that this has been our first kiss in a few weeks and I slowly get more familiar with her once again and I drop her hands from mine and cup her small and delicate face with my hands. I feel her hands go up around my shoulders and she slowly runs her hands through my hair. I feel like I'm forgetting something and as my lungs feel as if they're going to explode I remember I have forgotten to breathe. I pull away and look down at her to find her smiling up at me. We chuckle and look outside our window. It is night, and is becoming very dark. I tell Katniss we should get some sleep to prepare for what awaits us tomorrow, she agrees and we walk over to the beds.

I lay down in mine and she lays down in hers, my eyes instantly close and I realize how tired I am, before I can think any longer my mind goes into a sleep full bliss.

"Help! Help!" I sit bolt upright in bed and look over to see Katniss flailing around in her bed, she's clenching the sheets so tightly that her knuckles became a ghastly looking pale color. I quickly jump up from my bed and in one swift motion I am sitting at Katniss' bed, and I begin to slowly rub her shoulder.

"Katniss, it's me, everything's okay, it's Gale."

She sat bolt upright panting, her hair was stuck to her neck from sweat.

I didn't even ask any questions or say any words I just looked down into her eyes and for the first time I saw one thing and one thing only: fear. I pulled the blankets over me and over her and wrapped my arms around her small fragile body. I felt something wet trickle on to my hand and I looked down to see her eyes filled with water. I know something was seriously wrong because I know how strong she is, she never cried. I figured the explanation would wait until tomorrow and turned her around to face me. She quickly leaned her head against my chest and grabbed my shirt. I put my hand on her head reassuringly and guided her down to the pillow. She still seemed upset so I literally picked her up and sat her on my lap and I wrapped my arms around her. She looked up at me and tried to smile. I shook my head, laid back down and after what seemed like hours I felt her body stop shaking and saw her eyes slowly close.

I sat there all night just holding my girl, her head against my chest and my chin leaning on her head. I closed my eyes momentarily and locked this moment in my mind. Sleep never came to me, so I sat all night just holding my girl.

**This is kind of embarrassing. I haven't updated for like a few months now and I am seriously SO sorry, I feel like a terrible writer, I am suffering from HUGE writers block, a recent break up , midterms, and school. I just wrote this quickly to make sure everyone knows I indeed have not fallen off the face of the earth and I will finish this story if I can find time. I spent the past few weeks just reading some cliché cheesy fictionpress romance stories and I actually started one of my own, I have 2 reviews so I mean extremely embarrassing right? AhAh it's a true story though and I needed to write something like that to get my mind offff of stuff haha but if you have any time PLEASE read AND review: **.com/s/2990557/1/Orange_Converse_New_Neighbors_and_Summer_Love **sorry for this long note and this short chapter, but I will continue the story whenever I can find time! Thank you to all of my amazing readers and reviewers! **


	20. Chapter 20

I am woken by the ray of sun that breaks through the velvet curtains in the new room. I go to get up but see Gale right sitting at the foot of my bed.

"You okay?" He asks.

I remember my horrifying dreams about my father in the mine explosion last night and I quickly nod not wanting to relive it once again. I hop off the bed and stand near the window just looking out at the city that lies in front of me. It's so different from home. Shiny, whereas The Seam is dirty and black from all the coal dust it has collected over the years, alive, happy, whereas The Seam is sick and sad. There are people attired in ridiculous outfits, the streets seem to look like a rainbow has just thrown up on them. I shake my head in disgust for the people who have it so easy every day not having to worry about a thing in the world. As I defy the law everyday just to make sure my family doesn't starve to death, carrying what seems like the weight of the world on my shoulders.

I feel Gale's presence beside me and turn to face him. I look up into his eyes and don't really know what to say. I just lean my head against his chest and close my eyes, forgetting about everything for a second until someone twists the knob of the door. I quickly dash to my bed and act as though I haven't talked to Gale all morning. And it walks lover boy Owen.

"Oh you two seem to be having fun now don't you," he says with laughter.

Once no one replies he comes up and sits next to me. Gale clenches his fist and makes a move to walk over. I look at him and give him a warning look that says "don't worry I got this," At this moment I'm pretty sure if I let him Gale would rip Owen's head off but he listens and just stands by the window and turns his back. His shoulders are tense and rigid and his fists are clenched so tight his knuckles turn white.

"How'd you sleep?" says Owen.

"Fine, yourself?"

"Good," he says back and I feel the tension in the room multiply by the millionths. "Little lover boy didn't give you any problems now did he?"

"Well, you see we didn't really talk, I'd rather avoid him at all costs," I say laughing and touching his arm. I guess if this is the time to play it up I really should. I mean go big or, don't go home right?

"Good, hear that buddy?" He says looking over at Gale.

"Yeah trust me I feel the same way."

"Now good well the reason I was supposed to come up here was to tell you guys that you have a meeting with the president later."

Gale turns around quickly and my jaw drops. I try to hide the shock on my face as does Gale, but the president? What on earth does he want?

"Don't worry baby, I got you," Owen says planting a kiss on my cheek.

"Thanks Ow," I say feeling a blush come on my cheeks, this is actually embarrassing for Gale to be watching this. But I guess that's a good thing because it must look that I blushed from his kiss. I make a mental note to scrub my right cheek until it burns.

"See you later," he says hopping of my bed and out the door with a wink.

After Owen leaves the room fills with awkwardness. I look over at Gale not too sure if he's mad but he stars cracking up laughing, so I guess that's a no.

"Wow that dude is really crzy," says Gale with a laugh.

"Ahah yeah, I know, but listen I'm kind of tired, wake me up in an hour?"

"Mhm, sure," says Gale with a smile.

I lay down and my eyes instantly close. My mind is taken over by dreams of the president.

Someone is shaking my shoulder in what feels like it's been 5 minutes but it's Gale so my hour must be up.

"Hey, it's been 2 hours but I hear people outside so I figured their taking us down so I figured I would wake you."

I sit up in my bed and stretch, "uggh, okay, thanks Gale."

Someone knocks on the door and I busy my self with re-brading my hair down my back. Gale looks out the window.

"Hi, my name is Chad, I'll be taking you to see the president."

I turn around surprised it's not Owen, and see a short and stout guy. With bright red hair and freckles.

I hop out of bed and follow in his direction. He opens a door and me and Gale step inside.

The inside of the room is amazing: grand carpets, chandeliers, tapestry, book cases, and a magnificently large mahogany desk sits in the center and behind it a man with white hair is turned with his back towards us.

He turns around and says, "Hello Katniss Everdeen and Gale Hawthorne, please take a seat."

**Erm, awkward. Sorry terrible chapter haven't updated in so long. Uugh pisses me off. Sorry guys hopefully all my faithful readers and reviewers haven't given up in me! Um next chapter will be interesting I PROMISE, um PLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASE review and let me know your thoughts, Spring break so I should at least have the next chapter up within the week. THANKS TO ALL MY REVIEWERS LOVE ALL OF YOU! **


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